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Andy Serkis and his precious.

"LotR launched the career of one man, who must now wear skintight Spandex and face dots for the rest of his life."

Describe Andy Serkis here, prrrecious.

Andrew "Andy" Clement Serkisnote  (born 20 April 1964 in Ruislip Manor, England) is an English actor, painter, and director of English, Iraqi and Armenian descent.

As a child, Serkis wanted to be an artist; he was fond of painting and drawing, and visualized himself working behind the scenes in productions. He studied visual arts at Lancaster University, where he became involved in mechanical aspects of the theatre and did stage design and set building for theatrical productions. Then, Serkis was asked to play a role in a student production, and made his stage debut in Barrie Keefe's play Gotcha; thereafter, he switched from stage design to acting, which was a real calling that transformed his life.

In 1999, Andy Serkis landed the prize role of Gollum/Smeagol in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien's saga The Lord of the Rings, which quickly made him the best-known motion capture performer in the movie industry, and the Trope Namer for Serkis Folk. He spent four years on the part and received awards and nominations for his performance as Gollum, a computer-generated character in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003), which won eleven Oscars.note  Notably, Gollum/Smeagol's distinct voices were achieved with little to no computer trickery — Serkis can and does do them at live appearances. Serkis also used this art form in his performances as Kong in King Kongnote  and Caesar in the 2010s Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy.

In 2011, Serkis parleyed his experience into the foundation of his own visual effects studio, The Imaginarium, which specialises in providing performance capture for motion capture characters in films, TV, and video games.

At the end of 2018, he made a return to make a satirical video crossdressing as British Prime Minister Theresa May while acting in-personality as Gollum and Smeagol as a Take That! to her Brexit strategy.

Serkis married actress and singer Lorraine Ashbourne in 2002, and the couple have three children: daughter Ruby (b. 1998), and two sons, Sonny (b. 2000) and Louis George (b. 2004). Louis is an actor himself, and starred in The Kid Who Would Be King.


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